Author: Holbraad, Martin

Source: Social Analysis, Volume 53, Number 2, Summer 2009 , pp. 80-93(14)

Publisher: Berghahn Journals

Abstract:

This article holds that deeply entrenched assumptions about the nature, provenance, and value of truth can be brought into view and examined critically when set against the backdrop of a radically different set of concepts and practices that are associated with truth seeking in contemporary Afro-Cuban divination. Drawing briefly on an ethnographic analysis of the ways in which Cuban cult practitioners use oracles, the article seeks to formulate a radically alternative concept of truth. This viewpoint eschews common premises about the role of 'representation' in the pursuit of truth in favor of a notion of truth as 'conceptual redefinition'. If the ethnography of divination in Cuba forces the analyst radically to reformulate the concept of truth, what effect might this new approach have on the project of anthropology itself?

Keywords: ALTERITY; ANTHROPOLOGICAL TRUTH; CUBA; IFÁ DIVINATION; NEGATION; ORACLES; REDEFINITION

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3167/sa.2009.530205

Publication date: 2009-06-01

More about this publication?

• Social Analysis has long been at the forefront of anthropology's engagement with the humanities and other social sciences. In forming a critical, concerned, and empirical perspective, it encourages contributions that break away from the disciplinary bounds of anthropology and suggest innovative ways of challenging hegemonic paradigms through 'grounded theory', analysis based in original empirical research. The journal invites contributions directed toward a critical and theoretical understanding of cultural, political, and social processes, as well as the work of active ethnographic researchers who study the forces involved in the production of human suffering, poverty, prejudice, war, and violence.
• Editorial Board
• Information for Authors
• Submit a Paper
• Subscribe to this Title
• Information for Advertisers
• Terms & Conditions
• Aims and Scope
• Recommend to your Library
• Sample Copy Request
• ingentaconnect is not responsible for the content or availability of external websites

Related content

• In this: publication
• By this: publisher
• In this Subject: Anthropology & Archeology ,  Political Science ,  Social & Public Welfare
• By this author: Holbraad, Martin

Website © Publishing Technology. Article copyright remains with the publisher, society or author(s) as specified within the article.

• Terms and conditions
• Privacy policy
• Information for advertisers